


Perfect Love Might Not Have A Perfect Start

by WildWolf25



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Also I don't actually know anything about witch stuff, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Cuddling & Snuggling, Getting Together, M/M, Modern Witch AU, Mutual Pining, No actual love potions are consumed... sorry, mentions of other characters but they don't appear, this was supposed to be a drabble and now it's well over 4k whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 16:58:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18945097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildWolf25/pseuds/WildWolf25
Summary: Nico didn’t know what he was expecting, but Will Solace standing outside his front door in a green flannel shirt and a wide-brimmed hat looking like he was ready to go for a hike was certainly not it.  “What are you doing here?”  Nico asked.“Can’t a guy just come by to say hello?”  Will asked.Nico turned to him with a flat look.  “I live more than a dozen miles away from any civilization.”  He reminded him.“Don’t I know it.  I’ve been hiking for hours.”  Will said with a wry grin.“What are you here for?”  Nico asked again.“Ah, fine…” Will sighed.  “I need a potion.  Or an antidote or something.”“Couldn’t whip something up yourself?”  Nico arched an eyebrow at him.  Will was an exceptionally talented healer, after all.“Not sure this is a case for modern medicine, or even ambrosia.”  Will said cagily, shifting his weight.(In which Nico is a witch, and Will comes to him about a potion when he's got love on his mind)





	Perfect Love Might Not Have A Perfect Start

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Frostinthewarren/Shipthepuppy for giving me a prompt to keep me occupied when I had a lot of time to kill. Prompt was: "Modern day witch character A is preparing a potion for character B who is having trouble with romance." 
> 
> I know Will is usually the “healer” character but tbh Nico seems more likely to live alone in the woods, so he gets to be the witch in this AU.
> 
> (Also, Shippy, you know what you did.)

Most people wouldn’t guess Nico was a witch, if they saw him.  Then again, most people couldn’t pick a witch out of a line-up these days, preferring to think that witches were just old ladies with pointy hats and long crooked noses that stood hunched over bubbling cauldrons.  Halloween caricatures that had little to do with the natural world real witches inhabited.  Nico might have the dark aesthetic going with his black jeans, skull t-shirt, bomber jacket, and dark hair that hung into his eyes, but that was it.  Most people wouldn’t guess he was a witch if they just saw him walking down the street.  But it would be hard enough to _see_ him walking down the street in the first place; Nico generally stayed away from the big cities, and even the small outlying towns were more than he felt like dealing with.  Everything was too loud, too busy, too crowded… and once he deepened his connection with nature, he found it exhausting and stifling to be in the city.  Trees struggled to grow in tiny concrete prisons, windowbox herbs choked on pollution and car fumes, flowers feebly snatched at scraps of light between too-tall buildings, and any animals that managed to survive there did so only by the skin of their teeth, growing sick and shortening their lifespans by feeding on rotting garbage.  Nico had tried to stay in the city – casting whatever spells he could to aid the ailing nature – but there was so much more than he could handle with his powers alone. 

It broke his heart to watch the natural world suffocate around him, so he retreated to the depths of the woods where he could live and practice his magic in peace.  The trees grew tall and thick above him, leaves shielding him from the sun.  The river was clear and clean and the soft babble of it was much more peaceful than the honking of car horns.  He could grow patches of herbs and vegetables around his little one-room cabin, and the forest itself provided more than enough things to hunt, fish, and gather, so he was never hungry, even when he was careful to never take more than he needed to survive. 

Sometimes Hazel came out to visit him – drove out to the nearby national park, then continued on foot until she made her way to the untamed wilderness where he lived.  She didn’t mind, and even said she enjoyed it; it reminded her of when she had lived in Alaska, but without quite so many moose coming across her path.  Whenever Hazel came to visit, the two of them would stroll through the woods and chat – about Frank, about their friends, how the camps were doing, what the outside world was up to… – and Hazel would occasionally stop to bring up a geode or crystal hidden within the ground and give it to him.  He would clean them up, polish them off, and let them charge up in the sunlight on the windowsill of his cabin before harnessing their powers to mix potions and cast spells to give a little help to the forest around him as thanks for providing for him.  He lived far from civilization, so often Hazel would stay the night with him and have breakfast before the two of them began the long trek back to her car in the morning. 

“You’re more than welcome to come visit, you know.”  Hazel always told him when they reached the parking lot.  “Frank and I have a guest room at our place, and it’s not far from New Rome.” 

“I’ll think about it.”  Nico always said.  The cracked asphalt felt hard and unnatural under his feet, even through his boots.  “Maybe for Christmas.”  Perhaps he could manage that, if he could shadow-travel there; a bus ride would be long and noisy and unbearable. 

Few people besides Hazel ever made the long journey to visit him.  He doubted any of them knew where he was.  Occasionally, he received Iris messages from Jason asking for input on shrines for any gods associated with death, and he did have to show up at the Senate in New Rome to transfer the title of Ambassador of Pluto to Hazel, but other than that, he kept to himself out in the forest.  In some ways, it was a bit lonely – he had the company of the forest animals and plants, but they didn’t respond when he talked to them the way another person would.  But they were company enough, so he didn’t mind.  He liked being alone well enough. 

Which made it very confusing, when he heard the unmistakable rustle and drag of footsteps coming through the brush one afternoon.

Nico paused in his work – mixing a tincture to use on the injured leg of a rabbit – and listened carefully.  A bear, perhaps?  It didn’t sound quite so large as that.  The rabbit lying before him wiggled its nose and sat with ears pricked toward the front of the cabin.  He shook his head and went back to work, dabbing the potion onto her swollen leg and laying his hands over it to let his magic flow through and heal the broken joint. 

“There, how’s that?”  He asked softly, giving her side one last stroke.  She stretched out her leg experimentally before getting to her feet and sitting up on her hind legs, bumping the side of her face against his hand.  Nico smiled and pet between her ears. 

A sudden knock on the door startled both of them.  The rabbit leapt about in a frantic circle for a moment before diving under his bed, and Nico just stared at the front door in utter confusion.  Who on Earth or Hades could that be? 

He sent a quick, whispered apology to the rabbit hiding under his bed as he got to his feet and crossed the small cabin.  He doubted it was Hazel – she always sent an Iris message ahead of her visits and checked with him first.  Perhaps it was some hiker who was terribly lost, but the chances of someone coming across this place were very slim.  He lamented that he didn’t have a window in the door to see who it was, but since unexpected visitors never showed up, he didn’t exactly have the need for one before this.

Nico didn’t know what he was expecting, but Will Solace standing outside his front door in a green flannel shirt and a wide-brimmed hat looking like he was ready to go for a hike was certainly not it. 

Nico stared at him.  “What are you doing here?”  He asked, completely confused. 

Will’s smile didn’t fade, but he did arch an eyebrow at the less-than-cordial greeting.  “Great to see you, too, Nico.”  He said slowly and pointedly. 

Oh, for gods’ sake— Nico sighed and held open the door.  “Well, come in, I guess.  Since you’re here.  I don’t know _how_ you’re here, but whatever.”

“Such hospitality.”  Will said, stepping over the threshold.  “Wow, this is a neat little place you have, here.”  He looked around at the simple table he had built from wood and stone, the bed covered with furs and woven blankets, the loom in one corner, altars along the northern wall (one for his father, one for Hecate as the goddess of magic and witches, and another to practice on), the jars of dried herbs and potions and tinctures lining the wall above the simple kitchen and cooking hearth, and the crystals gleaming on the windowsill.  Will nodded approvingly.  “Do you mind if I sit down?  That was quite a hike out here…”

“Um, sure.  Oh, not there—” Nico stopped him as he went to sit on the edge of the bed. 

“Don’t want anyone on your bed?”  Will asked. 

“It’s not that, it’s just… hang on.”  Nico crouched down beside the bed and coaxed the frightened rabbit out, who was trembling as she listened to the loud, unfamiliar humans speaking.  As quickly as he could, he gathered her up and strode out the door.  He had barely set her on the ground before she was springing off into the underbrush.  Well, at least her leg seemed to be healed up properly, Nico thought wryly.  He turned and went back into his cabin, waving a casual hand at his unexpected guest.  “Alright, now you can sit wherever, I guess.” 

“So do you really not clean under there that much, that the dust bunnies have grown into actual bunnies?”  Will asked teasingly, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. 

“No, I was healing her leg.  Then you showed up out of nowhere and scared her into hiding.”  Nico told him bluntly as he picked up the glass jar that had been overturned in the rabbit’s flight.  Darn, he would have to remake this potion if he wanted to use more of it… He sighed and mopped up the spilled potion with a rag.  “Why are you here, anyway?”  He asked, not bothering to look up at the son of Apollo. 

“Can’t a guy just come by to say hello?”  Will asked. 

Nico turned to him with a flat look.  “I live more than a dozen miles away from any civilization.”  He reminded him. 

“Don’t I know it.  I’ve been hiking for hours.”  Will said with a wry grin. 

“What are you here for?”  Nico asked again.

“Ah, fine…” Will sighed.  “I need a potion.  Or an antidote or something.” 

“Couldn’t whip something up yourself?”  Nico arched an eyebrow at him.  Will was an exceptionally talented healer, after all. 

“Not sure this is a case for modern medicine, or even ambrosia.”  Will said cagily, shifting his weight.  “See, I actually tried to make something a bit like a potion myself, but I’m no witch… and, okay, I _did_ ask, and some of the Demeter kids said it would be fine…”

“What did you do.”  It came out so flat, it wasn’t even a question. 

Will winced.  “I made tea out of tulips and I think I poisoned myself.” 

Oh, for _gods’ sake_ … Nico groaned and started shifting through the bottles and jars of potions.  “Why in _Hades_ would you do that?”  He asked. 

“They were pretty, and smelled nice, and well, you can make tea out of other flowers!”  Will defended. 

“Thank the gods you didn’t try to make tea out of hemlock.”  Nico muttered. 

“I’m not _that_ dumb.”  Will chuckled. 

“But you are dumb enough to poison yourself and then hop on a plane, fly across the country, and hike thirteen miles instead of, I don’t know, calling poison control like a normal person?”  Nico sprinkled a pinch of herbs into a stone mortar ground them up. 

“Hm, didn’t think of them, actually.”  Will said.  “You were the first person I thought of.” 

Nico cast him a sidelong look.  They hadn’t spoken in years.  Not since Nico was last at Camp Half-Blood, when Will was a head counselor teaching young demigods first aid, and Nico was starting to think he was getting too old to be hanging around camp.  Why had _Nico_ been the first person Will had thought to contact with this? 

He uncorked a potion bottle and added a few drops to the mixture.  “How long ago did you drink this?”  He asked.

“I picked some tulips yesterday morning, and brewed a tea with the petals that fell off, along with some honey and rosemary.”  Will said.  Nico scowled and reached for another bottle.  He only had dried rosemary, so he hoped this would work.  Will went on.  “I steeped the tea for a long while, and drank it in early afternoon.  Then I felt sick around the evening, and threw up in the middle of the night.  I think that got rid of the worst of it, but…”

“It’s still in your bloodstream.”  Nico finished for him.  He set down the pestle.  “Wait here.  Don’t lay down, either – keep your brain and heart elevated.”  He left the cabin and stalked around to the garden out back, where he had some flowers growing.  Will was lucky he had thought to plant tulips, or his dumb ass would be shit out of luck. 

Nico plucked a few petals off and went back inside.  He added the petals and rosemary to the potion and poured in certain herbs and antidotes to counteract the toxins.  Hair of the dog that bit you, indeed.  He gave the mixture a stir and poured it all into a carved wooden cup, handing it to the other man.  “Here.  Swirl this around before every sip, so the pulverized crystals don’t settle at the bottom.” 

“Crystals?”  Will looked at the liquid doubtfully. 

“They’re just powder.  Now drink it.”  Nico told him.

Will tipped the cup toward his mouth and pulled a face as he took a sip of the potion.  “Oh, that is _foul_ …” He coughed. 

“Most medicine is.”  Nico deadpanned.  “Thought you’d be used to that, mister healer-man.” 

Will grimaced as he swirled the potion in the cup and took another sip, drinking the rest of the potion down.  “There.  Ugh.  Am I cured?” 

“Of poisoning?  Yes.”  Nico took the cup from him.  “Of your own stupidity?  Unfortunately, no.” 

Will licked his lips, still grimacing at the taste.  “Do you have any water?  That stuff was nasty.” 

“That ‘nasty stuff’ is probably saving your life.”  Nico told him.  “You can deal with it.” 

Will groaned and flopped back on Nico’s bed. 

“Stop whining.”  Nico glanced at him.  “I guess you can lay down, though.  Might help the antidote move faster.  Flat on your back, no pillow.” 

“Do you even _have_ a pillow?”  Will felt around the head of the bed.  His hand thumped against something semi-hard that made a sort of rattling noise: Nico’s pillow.  “Is this _filled with beans_?”  Will asked, incredulous. 

“Yeah?  It’s comfortable.”  Nico didn’t see the problem. 

“You are so strange, Death-Boy.”  Will sighed and laid down. 

“You’re the one who came all the way out here.”  Nico reminded him, setting to work washing the mortar and pestle with water from the river.  He glanced out the window and critically eyed the fading light.  “At this rate, you’re going to have to stay the night.  I need to make sure the antidote works fully, and you can’t hike back in the dark.”  Usually, he let Hazel take the bed and he made do with some furs and blankets on the ground near the hearth, but he was inclined to make Will sleep on the ground this time.  Would serve him right for drinking _tulip tea_ and poisoning himself. 

Nico left him alone in the cabin for an hour or so with instructions to keep resting, while he caught two fish at the river and gathered some berries and edible leaves.  Once he had enough to make dinner for two, he returned to the cabin.  He was disgruntled to find Will on his feet instead of lying down like he had told him, but he wasn’t exactly surprised – for someone who insisted on giving other people _“doctor’s orders”_ , Will wasn’t very good about following them himself. 

“Thought I told you to lie down and rest.”  Nico reminded him brusquely as he lit the candles in his cabin with a wave of his hand.  He was going to be very disappointed if Will went and got himself killed.

Will turned from where he was examining the shelves of glass potion bottles along the wall, his eyes widening as he watched the candle nearby flare to life seemingly on its own.  “I was, until just a minute ago.  I’m feeling much better now.”  His smile was remarkably bright for someone who had poisoned himself only a short while ago.  “Whatever you gave me worked like a charm.” 

“I should hope not.”  Nico snorted, setting the food on the table and taking a knife from the kitchen – iron that Hazel had helped him pull up, but the rest had been made by his own hand with only a little bit of crafting spells and a lot of elbow grease.  “I gave you a potion, not a charm.” 

“Good point.”  Will chuckled.  “So, can you do charms, too?” 

“They’re not my specialty.”  Nico shrugged.  That was more _Will’s_ department, he thought wryly, but he didn’t dare say it.  Different kind of charm.

“Mostly potions, then?”  Will asked, looking as the bottles along the shelf again.  “You’ve got so many here… seems like you can make anything.” 

“I’ve still got a lot left to learn.”  Nico crouched down to light the fire in the small hearth where he did his cooking.  “But I can do the basics, and a handful of more advanced magics.  Healing potions, pain relievers, growth spells, light charms, energy channeling spells, antidotes…”

“Love potions?”  Will asked, his voice careful. 

Nico stilled.  He shook himself off.  “I don’t do love potions.”  They were difficult, and dangerous in the wrong hands.  He didn’t like manipulating people’s emotions without their knowledge.  It felt wrong.  Even Hecate herself didn’t favor them, among all her magics.

“But Reyna said you gave her one—”

“Reyna was a special case.”  Nico said firmly.  “An exception.”  She had saved his life a number of times, back when they were shadow-travelling the Athena Parthenos halfway across the world.  Of course he would help her, when she asked him for something to give her love life a little encouragement (and he always liked kicking Aphrodite’s dumb predictions in the face).  He shook his head.  “It’s not as simple as people think.  You can’t just brew up a potion and force someone to fall in love with you.  Emotions are even more powerful than magic – you can’t make them appear out of thin air.  What I gave Reyna was little more than a potion to bolster her courage so she could confess to the person herself.  That’s all.”  She had lent him her strength in Greece, in Portugal, in South Carolina… So he lent her courage in return. 

Nico tossed some chopped meat and vegetables into the cast-iron pot.  “Why do you want a love potion, anyway?”  He asked, grumpy.  Apparently he would always be doomed to fall for the ones who were already in love with someone else.  Maybe Aphrodite really hadn’t liked Nico helping Reyna work around her stupid prophecy. 

“Ah, no reason.”  Will said lightly.  Unconvincingly.  “Or, you know, doesn’t everyone kinda wish they had a love potion, once in a while?” 

“ _I_ don’t.”  Nico pointed out.  He knew how finicky they were and how much trouble they could cause. 

Will hummed noncommittally.  “So… can I help you make dinner?  I promise not to try and make tulip tea.” 

Nico couldn’t resist the small upward twitch of his lips in a fleeting smile.  “I guess I can trust you to chop.  Here, do this, and I’ll cook the fish.”  He passed the knife and cutting board to Will, their hands brushing in the process.  Nico pulled his hand away like he had been shocked and tried to quell the stupid skeletal butterflies that were fluttering in his stomach again… he hated that Will still had this effect on him, even years later. 

They worked together in comfortable quietness as the last of the light faded outside.  The forest was dreadfully dark at night, and although Nico had learned to sense the energy of the plants and animals moving about in the dark, Will had not, so Nico was glad he would be staying the night until it was bright and safe to leave.  He hoped it wouldn’t be lonely when he left. 

The two of them sat at the small table with their dinners, a carved wooden stool and part of a cut log serving as their chairs.  Will talked about how things were going at Camp Half-Blood, and how he was thinking of applying to University of New Rome next year.  “I could even come by and visit you more, if I move out here.”  He added. 

Nico arched an eyebrow, but knew better than to suggest that better not be the only reason he was applying there.  Universities where monsters didn’t attack demigods were in short supply (very short supply.  So far, only New Rome). 

“I would think it would hard for you to leave camp.”  Nico commented, gaze fixed on his dinner. 

“Mm.  Maybe a bit.”  Will hummed.  “I love all my siblings, but I’ve got siblings at Camp Jupiter that I’ve never met, too.  And I might miss Camp Half-Blood itself, but I’m not even originally from New York – California isn’t any further from my mom as I already live.” 

“Still, you shouldn’t have to leave someone behind.”  Nico said quietly.  As much as he resented that nameless, faceless person, he himself knew how much that hurt, to be left behind as the person you loved moved on with their life. 

Will looked up, tilting his head in confusion.  “Who would I be leaving behind?”  He asked. 

Nico shrugged and stabbed a piece of meat onto his fork with perhaps a bit more force than was strictly necessary.  “I don’t know, whoever you wanted to use that love potion on.” 

Will’s mouth dropped open in shock.  What, did he really think Nico hadn’t figured that out?  He wasn’t an idiot. 

“Gods, you’re kind of an idiot, you know that?”  Will’s voice was unexpectedly fond, despite the words.  Nico still shot him a glare all the same.  Will laughed.  “I guess it’s true what they say; a person can see everything except what’s right under their nose.” 

“What are you talking about?”  Nico asked, starting to get frustrated.

“ _You_ , you goofball death boy!”  Will tossed a hand up in a gesture that looked like it was caught between pointing at Nico and a resigned shrug.  “If I could use a love potion on anyone, I’d use it on you.  But apparently love potions don’t work like that, so instead I have to deal with you being too dense to spot a crush.” 

Nico blinked, thoughts grinding to a halt.  “You… what?” 

“I’ve liked you for years, but I didn’t want to say anything.”  Will chuckled, the sound cold and self-deprecating.  “You just see me as a bother, anyway.  The annoying guy in the infirmary who doesn’t let you shadow-travel to your heart’s content, and the dumb idiot who turns up out of the blue because he poisoned himself.” 

“Wait… did you _drink that on purpose_ , just to come see me?”  Nico asked, furious.  If Will put himself in danger intentionally just as an excuse to visit him, he was going to _kill_ the guy!

“No, that was an accident.”  Will sighed.  “But when the ambrosia only slowed the process, and I knew I needed something stronger, you were the first person I thought of.  Probably because I haven’t stopped thinking about you since you left.” 

Nico was still shocked, but at least he was reassured that Will hadn’t done it on purpose.  “I… I don’t know what to say…”

Will lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug and poked at his food.  “You don’t have to say anything.  I get it.” 

“I like you too.”  Nico blurted out. 

Will stopped for half a second, then looked up, his eyes wide. 

Nico took a deep breath.  Emotions were stronger than magic, but that didn’t mean he liked dealing with them.  “I’ve liked you, ever since the war with Gaea.  I mean, you annoyed the crap out of me at first – some dude I didn’t even know telling me I couldn’t shadow travel – but honestly, if you hadn’t, I would have disappeared completely.  I was so close to it.  You saved my life.  And once I realized that… you harping on me about not straining myself wasn’t so annoying.  You’re really caring, and kind.”  He felt himself blush.  “That, and you’re, like, stupidly attractive.” 

Will chuckled.  “So people say, about Apollo kids.”  He shook his head wryly. 

“Must be from your mortal side.”  Nico pulled a face at the memory.  “Because I’ve _met_ your dad, and he thinks he’s hot shit but he’s not that great.” 

Will laughed, bright and sunny and making Nico’s heart do funny things in his chest.  The flame of the candle on the table flickered as his emotions shifted in an unfamiliar way.

Over Will’s shoulder, across the cabin, Nico caught sight of the furs and blankets he had been planning on making do with on the ground.  Maybe… maybe they could just share the bed, after all.  The candle flame jumped again as his heart sped up a little at the thought, and he cursed internally and realized he would have to control himself before Will caught on.  Or maybe not – maybe he was feeling the same way, but there just wasn’t a magic flame tied to his emotions to give it away.

After they finished eating and washed the dishes, Will looked around the small cabin, his brow furrowing slightly.  “You wanted me to stay here tonight, right?”  He asked.

The phrasing wasn’t lost on Nico.  _You wanted me to…_ Not _you said I should_ , or any practical mention of it being just to keep an eye on his health and make sure the antidote worked properly.  “Yeah.”  Nico busied himself with stoking the coals in the hearth, hoping that the warm glow of the fire hid the blush he could feel creeping across his cheeks. 

“So…” Will cleared his throat.  “Should I… take the floor, or…?” 

“Depends.”  Nico pretended to consider it.  “Do you kick in your sleep?” 

“Uh, no…?”  Will’s eyes widened slightly as it seemed to click.  “Oh.  Really?  You’d be okay with sharing?” 

“Why not?”  Nico shrugged, trying to play it casual even though his heart was doing acrobatics in his chest.  “There’s only one bed, and it gets cold at night.”  He glanced at the son of Apollo and found a matching blush on his cheeks.  “And, we kinda did just confess to each other.”  He offered him a small, faint smile.

Rather than looking more embarrassed, this time Will just looked relieved, like the confession and acceptance had lifted a weight off his shoulders. 

Nico cast a spell over the coals to extinguish them for the night, then the two of them climbed into the narrow bed lined with furs and woven blankets.  Quietness settled over the cabin for a few minutes, and Nico nearly drifted off, thinking it was surprisingly nice to sleep so close to another person. 

Will cleared his throat and shifted beside him.  “Okay, you’re really cute and I like you a lot.  But I gotta tell you, this is absolutely not a pillow.”  A dry rustle came from his side of the bed as he poked at the bean-filled sack that served as a pillow (that Nico had graciously let him use, as he had only one).

“Don’t be such a baby.”  Nico snorted. 

“It’s full of _beans_.”  Will said, voice bordering on a whine.  “Pillows are supposed to be _soft_.” 

With a sigh, Nico yanked the pillow over to his side and laid his head back against it.  Then he grabbed Will by the shoulder and pulled him down so that his head was resting on Nico’s chest.  “There.  How’s that, your royal highness?”

“Y-“ Will’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat.  “You have a really weird way of being romantic.”

“And yet you fell for me.”  Nico pointed out. 

“…that is true.”  Will shifted closer, snuggling up to Nico’s side to escape the chilly night air.  A minute later, he spoke up again.  “This pillow’s a little bony, frankly.  When I move out here for school, I’m bringing you weekly meals, Death Boy.” 

“Or you could just ask me on a date like a normal person.”  Nico chuckled.    

“I confessed to you after accidentally poisoning myself.  What part of me do you think is ‘normal’?” 

“Good point.  You’re lucky I like you like that, though.”  Nico smiled as he fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: bean pillows are a thing, and more than half of what I come across anytime I try and look for a pillow here (I'm with Will -- I need my pillows to be soft... ~~And NO, insert-home-goods-store-in-my-town, filling your pillows with tiny PVC piping does NOT count as a SOFT, that's not ANY BETTER than the traditional soybeans! *grumbles and hoards the one soft pillow I've managed to find here*~~ )
> 
> Another fun fact: tulips typically symbolize perfect love. They are also allegedly edible, but maybe don't eat/make tea out of them, because you might accidentally poison yourself and throw up, and your friend will take your unrelated prompt and use you as part of the inspiration. Don't make any suspicious mystery tea brews out of flowers, kids! ✌
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please let me know if you enjoyed it! I've also got a tumblr, [gold-leeaf](http://gold-leeaf.tumblr.com/) as well


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